Broken push rod Broken Heart!!!

[christianchevell]

You should have asked about the lifter, and if it was a trunnion failure..... since they are replacing the valve that means they are pulling the head and thus the cam will be exposed for observation and the lifter should go bye bye also at like a cost of 12.50$ and you should be all up in the mechanics pocket wanting pics or a looksee to see the damage if you knew what your looking for as in...damage to that lobe of the cam shaft, damage to the other lobes or the other pushrods, heck maybe even beg for a spring pressure test to see if they are all shot.... look at the tracking the roller lifters have made on the cam and their shape a defective cam usually is from bad casting and pitting occurs from the cam not being that solid and forged right heating it in a oven that may have uneven heat or etc.... but I as racers do believe in a break in for roller cam just like any cam.....I use br30 and ls 30 0il on my engine. You need to safely know which came first the chicken or the egg.... I would show them this post and show you do know others that are trying to help you get at the right answer for your future knowledge and the longevity of the engine and its history as its damn important to know whats up.....

[RankSS]

Originally Posted by my1stgen515

I went to the dealership today to get something
I forgot in my car and the manager showed me
the bent pushrod. I was shock at how curved it
was. I should have photographed it. He told me
they were going to replace it along with the spring,
valve & rocker. He did't mention the lifter. He said
the tech checked all the other valve train parts
and all still in specs. It was shocking to see the top end of
my engine disassembled on the work bench. Another
thing that surprised me is how my "spirited" driving
has kept carbon build up to a minimum. LOL!!!

No evidence of the valve contacting the piston?
Sure sounds like a mechanical over rev condition.

[CamaroFred]

Originally Posted by christianchevell

I would be worried the cause may not just be pushrod failure and being the dealer they do not want to go into it further or they may discover it came from a failed Lifter or the trunnion more common things that do cause failure and are more work especially if its a bad lifter!!!! And BTW a simple hardened set of pushrods is like 100$ not a fortune.
'
I would want the rocker replaced as it most likely is damaged and if not a new one should be matched to the new pushrod and a rocker is cheap. Hopefully your not having a internal spring problem with the lifters plunger or it will repeat, also if its a failing cam shaft lobe or roller it will eat the cam.... I mention this from over the years a lifter going out is more likely....and something you should be very inquisitive about...... as sometimes what came first the chicken of the egg is really the question; the pushrod really break from just fatigue .... Not very common. Rockers bearings falling out of trunnion stock or even comp cam upgraded is well documented, lifters trashed common, over rev causing fatigue to stock parts from downshifting past rev limit, even cam failures more common...... IMO but this is the internet. Good Luck crap does happen even to stock engines...

And a break would make me wonder the condition of all the pushrods...thus a complete replacement of them as bending is over rev stress deal and complete check of the pushrods and supporting valve train. SO checking it for bending on that pushrod and the others crucial as that points to bending being a sign the springs are shot from over rev via mechanical down shifting past the rev limit; which does so make nice deceleration popping on a ls3 with NPP... But does need to be watched to not go over the limit which you state you did not do.... that ate my last engine when months later the over rev from engine breaking to save my butt and wifes butt on the freeway when some econoturd decided to cut me off passing and I miss shifted down because the stock shifter well...its a paper weight now ...never liked hitting the three four gate well the POS.....
'
Anyway just some thoughts..... I would wonder what the push rod looked like big time and how its friends are doing...

Damn christianchevell, you should know as well as anyone the Brembos on these Camaros can bring the car from 60 to zero in less than a second.
How did you think downshifting was going to help you stop? How did you even have time to try?

[MrChrisLS3]

If it were my car, I try and make a deal with the service manager. Since all the labor to remove the head and such is covered under warranty, I would pay the difference to replace all the lifters and pushrods, and perhaps even valve springs, if I could. At the very least, all the lifters and push rods.

It just seems like the dealer is trying to fix the symptom and not the illness. Something caused that rod to bend, and if I were going place a bet, I would say that the lifter spring is not allowing the lifter to collapse. At least that's the scenario that makes the most sense to me without the possibility of valve float.

[Jim Clelland]

+1 with MrChrisLS3... garbage the lifters and pushrods at least and recycle the boxes the new parts come in. It would take like half an hour to pull the rest of the lifters and put new in anyways.

[3rdgen3]

IF theyre not replacing the lifters gauranteed they never pulled the head off in the first place otherwise that list of parts for replacement wouldve included head bolts and a head gasket not just the rocker and spring.

[my1stgen515]

Thanks for all your smart input, guys. I will digest all of this info and further question my service manager when I pick up the car tomorrow. Unfortunately, working gets in the way and the dealer is closed on Sundays. When I was there on Saturday, I didn't ask the guy about more things I should've asked about. Luck for me, this forum exist so I'll be smarter next time. God forbid. LOL!! I am no mechanic by any means but, I'm familiar with disassembled heads and all their removed components. I have to assume they did
a thuro diagnosis and will replace any damaged components. Never the less, armed with all the information I got from the smart people on this forum, I will ask the important questions. This time, I will need to rely on the "good faith" of my service manager to honor my warranty. He is a good guy and has always tried to help me since I bought the car. We shall see. I will get a print out and try to post it for the forum's future reference.

[my1stgen515]

This is the service order of what was replaced per the warranty.



The "black Beauty" runs as if nothing ever happened.
My joy is reborn once again!
On the road again, like Willie Nelson!!

[ThisGuyDrives]

I heard from one guy that the engine blew in his 5th gen Z/28 with 800 miles!!

I really wanna get my car dyno tuned, but I still got 2 years left on the powertrain warranty. Not ready to give it up just yet. Even though stories like yours are rare, stuff happens and I couldn't afford it if something happened to my LS3.

[NC_SS]

Originally Posted by ThisGuyDrives

I heard from one guy that the engine blew in his 5th gen Z/28 with 800 miles!!

I really wanna get my car dyno tuned, but I still got 2 years left on the powertrain warranty. Not ready to give it up just yet. Even though stories like yours are rare, stuff happens and I couldn't afford it if something happened to my LS3.

Go to the Corvette Z06 forums and check all of the LS7 valve drop failures, that is nothing new

LS3's aren't prone to the same issue

[frenchsquared]

The valve springs suck on the LS7. ITs a very well known issue. Mine will get placed within days of the factory warranty ending. Im tempted to replace them before the warranty ends but that will void all the other stuff that could go wrong.

[my1stgen515]

I would love to get a Z28! All I could afford was the SS but am very happy with it. I got lucky with my warranty and my service manager its a jerk. After the warranty is done, Im doing all of the mods if I have the money. I'll do performance engine mods, suspension, dyno and all the rest of it!!

[918Stealth2SS]

I work at a Ford dealership see some crazy stuff go BOOM very early in the vehicles life. Just freak stuff that happens. Gotta love seeing those N/C all down the invoice for sure. I'm not a fan of seeing it when I'm the advisor though haha. Cheating me out of some money with warranty pricing.